Pressure Regulator for a Fuel Supply Unit and Method for Production of a Pressure Regulator

ABSTRACT

A pressure regulator for a fuel supply unit on a motor vehicle. A membrane is connected to an annular element of a housing and a moving piston by a laser welding technique. A reliable sealing of the membrane is thus guaranteed even at temperatures below 0° C. The region above the piston is thus reliably separated from the region below the piston.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/664,122, filed Mar. 30, 2007, which claims priority from an application filed in Germany on Oct. 1, 2004, No. 10 2004 048 392.2. The disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a pressure regulator for a fuel supply unit of a motor vehicle, with a valve for producing a joining of a connection to an outlet above a designated pressure in the connection, with a movable piston and with a membrane, which is held on a fixed annular element, for sealing the piston in relation to the annular element. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for production of a pressure regulator for a fuel supply unit of a motor vehicle, in which a piston of a valve is joined to a fixed annular element in a sealing manner via a membrane.

Pressure regulators of this type are frequently used in motor vehicles today to regulate a pressure in a forward flow line leading to an internal combustion engine, and are known from practice. The membrane is clamped between two annular elements of the housing and separates the region above the piston from the region below the piston. The connection opens into the region below the piston. The required tensioning force of the membrane is generally produced by flanging an edge of the annular element.

A drawback of the known pressure regulator is that the sealing of the membrane is insufficient, in particular in the temperature range below 0° C., in order to keep the designated pressure at which the pressure regulator is to open within an exacting tolerance range. The pressure regulator may frequently fail completely due to leakages at the outer edge.

The invention is based on the problem of developing a pressure regulator of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a manner that reliable tightness between the membrane and the annular element is ensured. Furthermore, the invention is based on the problem of designing a method for production of the pressure regulator in such a manner that it ensures particularly reliable sealing of the membrane in relation to the annular element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The problem mentioned first is solved according to the invention in that the membrane is welded to the annular element.

This design enables the membrane to be joined to the annular element with a cohesive material joint. This ensures reliable tightness in particular in the temperature range below 0° C. Settling gaps between the membrane and the annular element, which may result in leakages after a certain operating time of the pressure regulator according to the invention, are likewise reliably avoided. This ensures reliable tightness between the membrane and the annular element.

In the case of a pressure regulator according to the invention and designed as a throughflow valve, the tightness between the region below the piston and the region above the piston can be further increased if the membrane is welded to the piston.

Flow through the piston above the designated pressure can be ensured in a simple manner, according to another advantageous development of the invention, if the membrane has a recess for a valve seat arranged in the piston.

Welding the membrane to the piston and the annular element turns out to be particularly cost-effective, according to another advantageous development of the invention, if the annular element and the piston are manufactured from plastic.

Permanent tightness of the welded joint is ensured, according to another advantageous development of the invention, if the plastic of the membrane, the piston and the annular element is polyphenylene sulfide.

According to another advantageous development of the invention, the membrane, the annular element and the piston have a particularly high degree of stability if the plastic has inserts of glass fibers.

The welded joint of the membrane can be produced particularly cost-effectively, according to another advantageous development of the invention, if the membrane or the component to be welded to the membrane is manufactured from a material permeable to a laser beam and the respectively other component is manufactured from a material impermeable to a laser beam. This design enables the membrane to be welded by means of the laser beam. This results in particularly low manufacturing costs in particular in series manufacturing of the pressure regulator according to the invention. In addition, the manufacturing can be automated.

The annular element could be, for example, an edge of a housing guiding the piston. However, in order to set the prestressing force of the spring element against the piston, the housing of the pressure regulator according to the invention is preferably manufactured from an easily plastically deformable material. According to another advantageous development of the invention, the housing can be manufactured from an easily deformable steel sheet and the membrane from plastic if the annular element is clamped in a housing in a sealing manner.

The problem mentioned second, namely the provision of a method for production of the pressure regulator with particularly reliable sealing of the membrane in relation to the annular element, is solved according to the invention in that the membrane is welded to the annular element.

By this means, settling gaps which arise during the flanging operation, as in the case of the known annular element, are reliably avoided. Owing to the invention, the membrane is joined to the annular element with a cohesive material joint. This leads to particularly reliable sealing of the membrane in relation to the annular element in particular in the range below 0° C. In the case of a pressure regulator designed as a straight-way valve, the piston can be welded to the membrane in an analogous manner.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, the method according to the invention turns out to be particularly cost-effective if the welding takes place by a laser welding technique.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention permits numerous embodiments. To further clarify its basic principle, two of these are illustrated in the drawing and will be described below. In the drawings

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section through a pressure regulator according to the invention and designed as a throughflow valve,

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through a pressure regulator designed as a cutoff valve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a pressure regulator according to the invention and designed as a throughflow valve with a housing 1 and a piston 2 arranged displaceably in the housing 1. The pressure regulator serves to limit a maximum pressure in a forward flow line (not illustrated) of a fuel tank of a motor vehicle. The housing 1 has two housing parts 4, 5 which are kept at a distance by an annular element 3. The pressure regulator has a connection 6 for a pressure line, and an outlet 7. The piston 2 is prestressed with a valve seat 9 against a valve body 10 by means of a spring 8 designed as a spiral spring.

A membrane 11 joined to the annular element 3 and the piston 2 seals the region below the piston 2 from the region above the piston 2. This ensures that, at a pressure in the connection 6, the piston 2 is loaded counter to the force of the spring 8 and, above a designated pressure, the piston 2 is moved such that the valve seat 9 lifts off from the valve body 10. Above the designated pressure, fuel from the connection 6 can therefore escape through the outlet 7. The housing parts 4, 5 are manufactured from steel sheet and are joined to each other by flanging 12. The flanging 12 prestresses a sealing ring 13 between the annular element 3 and the lower housing part 5. An edge 14 of the upper housing part 4, which edge holds the spring 8, is of plastically deformable design and serves to calibrate the pressure regulator and therefore to set to the designated pressure at which the join between the connection 6 and the outlet 7 is produced. The annular element 3, the piston 2 and the membrane 11 are manufactured from the plastic polyphenylene sulfide. The membrane 11 is joined to the annular element 3 and the piston 2 by a laser welding technique.

FIG. 2 shows a pressure regulator designed as a cutoff valve. Said pressure regulator differs from that from FIG. 1 in particular by an outlet 15 being arranged on the same side as a connection 16, as seen from a piston 17. A membrane 18 is welded to an annular element 19 exclusively in the radially outer region and covers the entire cross section of the piston 17. Furthermore, the membrane 18 forms a valve body 21 bearing against a valve seat 20 of the outlet 15. At a designated pressure in the connection 16, the piston 17 and the membrane 18 are pressed away from the valve seat 20 of the outlet 15 such that fuel can flow from the connection 16 to the outlet 15. 

1. A pressure regulator for a fuel supply unit of a motor vehicle, with a valve for producing a joining of a connection to an outlet above a designated pressure in the connection, with a movable piston and with a membrane, which is held on a fixed annular element, for sealing the piston in relation to the annular element, characterized in that the membrane is welded to the annular element.
 2. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the membrane is welded to the piston.
 3. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the membrane has a recess for a valve seat arranged in the piston.
 4. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the annular element, the membrane, and the piston are manufactured from plastic.
 5. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the plastic of the membrane, the piston and the annular element is polyphenylene sulfide.
 6. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the plastic has inserts of glass fibers.
 7. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the membrane or the component to be welded to the membrane is manufactured from a material permeable to a laser beam and the respectively other component is manufactured from a material impermeable to a laser beam.
 8. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the annular element is clamped in a housing in a sealing manner.
 9. A method for production of a pressure regulator for a fuel supply unit of a motor vehicle, in which a piston of a valve is joined to a fixed annular element in a sealing manner via a membrane, characterized in that the membrane is welded to the annular element.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the welding takes place by a laser welding technique.
 11. A pressure regulator for a fuel supply unit of a motor vehicle, comprising: a fixed annular element; a housing including: a first housing portion; and a second housing portion, the second housing portion being attached to the first housing portion, the housing configured to retain the annular ring between the first and second housing portions; an inlet on the housing; an outlet on the housing; a valve for producing connection between the inlet and outlet above a designated pressure in the inlet; a movable piston arranged in one of the first and second housing portions; and a membrane that is welded to the fixed annular element and configured to seal the piston in relation to the annular element.
 12. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the membrane is welded to the moveable piston.
 13. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the membrane has a recess for a valve seat arranged in the piston.
 14. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the annular element, the membrane, and the piston are manufactured from plastic.
 15. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 14, wherein the plastic of the membrane, the piston and the annular element is polyphenylene sulfide.
 16. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 14, wherein the plastic has inserts of glass fibers.
 17. The pressure regulator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the annular element is sealing clamped with respect to at least one of the first and second housing portions. 